Goozburg
by mellifluous cloud
Summary: Annie and the gang visit an unusual town. This a crossover of So Weird, In A Heartbeat, The Jersey, Even Stevens, Famous Jett Jackson, Lizzie McGuire, and Brink!... sort of.
1. Goozburg

TITLE: Goozburg  
AUTHOR: JackPhillipsGirl  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own So Weird, In A Heartbeat, The Jersey, Even Stevens, Famous Jett Jackson, Lizzie McGuire, or Brink!. And, just so you know, I've never watched Lizzie McGuire, so I don't even know if I got her friends' names right. And I've seen about five minutes of Famous Jett Jackson, so that may not make sense either. Don't take this story seriously - I wrote it due to extreme boredom. Enjoy!  
  
  
Chapter One  
  
The Molly Phillips Tour Bus screeched to a stop and Annie Thelen yelped as her head hit the wall. "Ouch!" She rubbed the spot that was sore and glanced out her window. Her eyes widened at the sight of a blend of colors and flashing lights. She blinked, but when she looked again, all she saw were the friendly houses of a normal town. Annie shrugged, muttering to herself, "Must have took one to the head." She sighed and yelled, "Ned, where are we, exactly?"  
  
"Some town in California."  
  
"Ever hear of... Goozburg?" Molly asked, appearing in the doorway. She grinned, and then frowned when she saw Annie's hand at her head. "Hey, what happened?"  
  
"I..." Annie began, letting her hand fall. "Did you see...?" She noticed the strange look Molly was giving her and stopped short. "Never mind. I hit my head, but I'm okay."  
  
"Well, all right," Molly replied. "We're going to go into town now. I think we all need a little air after ten hours on this bus!"  
  
Annie smiled. "Okay, I'll meet you in a minute."  
  
Molly turned to leave and Annie walked over to look out her window again. "What kind of town calls itself 'Goozburg'?" she murmured. She made her way to the front of the bus; the others had already left. _Where'd they all go?_ Annie wondered. Suddenly she noticed a blond girl approaching her.  
  
"Hey, have you seen -" Annie started to ask, but she was cut short.  
  
"Hi, I'm Lizzie," the girl said, "and I have my own new show."  
  
"Ignore her," a small boy chimed in. "The name's Matt, and the show is all about _moi_."  
  
"I -" Annie interrupted, and unsuccessfully.  
  
"Excuse my brother Doofus," Lizzie continued. "_My_ show stars me and my best friends, Gordo and Miranda." Another boy and girl were instantly at her side. They waved.  
  
"Oh yeah?" Matt said. "I have a lizard!"  
  
"Mom! Dad! Matt's trying to steal my show!" Lizzie screamed.  
  
"Now kids, we all know it's our show," her mother told her.  
  
"I thought it was _Lizzie's_ show," her father said.  
  
"Yes!" Lizzie exclaimed, sharing hi-fives with Gordo and Miranda. They all turned to Annie expectedly. "Well?" Lizzie demanded.  
  
"Um..." Annie started. "Where am I?"  
  
"Goozburg!" Gordo said happily. "Didn't you know? What planet are you from?" he joked.  
  
Annie eyes widened. She swallowed hard. "You know about that?"  
  
The three friends exchanged looks. "Uh, of course!" Miranda responded quickly. "So, what planet are you from?" she hurried on.  
  
"Well, I don't know exactly," Annie whispered. "See, this panther guides me in my sleep... and then I met these aliens on Thanksgiving, and they told me I was one of them!"  
  
Lizzie raised her eyebrows. "We were just j -"  
  
Gordo quickly covered her mouth with his hand. "So, you see a panther in your dreams, huh?"  
  
"Yeah!" Annie exclaimed. "I think he's my..." Her voice fell to a whisper. "My spirit animal."  
  
Lizzie, Gordo, and Miranda stared at her, speechless. Then slowly their lips curled into smiles, and it wasn't long before they were rolling on the ground, convulsed with laughter.  
  
"Aliens!" Miranda exclaimed, tears streaming down her face.  
  
"A _spirit animal?!_" Gordo said, banging his fist against the ground. "Oh man..."  
  
Annie glared at them, feeling hurt and angry with herself for having just revealed her deepest secret to complete strangers. She turned on her heel, marching across the street to find Clu, or Jack, or Carey.  
  
"Wow," Lizzie commented, "what a weirdo."  
  
  
Chapter Two  
  
"Clu!" Annie shouted, running over to him. He was standing next to an ambulance conversing with four uniformed teenagers.  
  
"So what you're saying is, you guys are like, teenage doctors?"  
  
"EMTs," the blond girl corrected him. "Emergency Medical Technicians."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, EMTs, but you're like doctors, right?" Clu asked.  
  
"Yes, we're doctors," the brown-haired guy agreed in exasperation.  
  
"Clu, let's leave the EMTs alone," Annie spoke up. They were in the middle of helping an elderly woman who had fell.  
  
"Please, leave us -" the blond boy began, but his sentence came to a halt as he had a sudden change of mind. "I mean, you're not bothering us. It's okay." He grinned. "I'm Tyler, by the way."  
  
"I'm Annie."  
  
"Oh, I'm Clu, in case you wanted to know," Clu said.  
  
"And I'm Jamie," the brown-haired boy added in a mocking tone. "Can we please get back to work?"  
  
"Jeez, Jamie, since when are you so anxious?" the girl asked. She smiled at Clu. "My name's Val." She motioned to the guy next to her. "And that's Hank. Have you ever seen teen EMTs before?" she asked sweetly.  
  
"No, we have adult ones at home," Clu explained. He smiled back.  
  
Tyler made a low growling noise in his throat. "Don't even think about him," he hissed.  
  
"Tyler, we're not going out and you don't own me," Val replied through clenched teeth. "Remember what happened at our little dinner date? Or what didn't?" Tyler looked away, embarrassed. Val looked back at Clu again. "So... I'll be seeing you around?"  
  
"Not if I see you first!" Clu replied, instantly feeling like an idiot as the words left his mouth. "I mean, uh, yeah," he said. Val smiled and shook her head.  
  
"Yeah, see ya," Annie said, grabbing Clu's arm and dragging him to the street. "God, what do you think you're doing?" she demanded.  
  
"That Val is pretty cute," Clu said to nobody in particular.  
  
Annie scowled. "Enough about her, we need to find Carey and Jack! Have you seen them?"  
  
"Isn't that Jack right over there?" Clu said suddenly, pointing in the distance.  
  
Annie followed his gaze. "Why didn't you say something before? Come on!" She ran off, with Clu not far behind her.  
  
  
Chapter Three  
  
"No way, Manny Ramirez is a much better hitter than Alex Rodriguez!" Jack exclaimed.  
  
"Yeah, and if Manny's so much better, why wasn't he the one offered a $250 million contract?" a brown-haired boy argued.  
  
"No, no, Jack's definitely right," another girl agreed. "A-Rod is overrated."  
  
"Thank you," Jack said, smiling.  
  
"Uh, Jack?" Annie interrupted.  
  
Jack turned around. "Oh, hi, Annie. Hi, Clu." He motioned to the boy and girl. "That's Nick, and his cousin Morgan. They live in this town."  
  
"Hi," Nick and Morgan said in unison.  
  
"Hi..." Annie replied. "Jack, have you seen Carey?"  
  
Jack shrugged. "Nope. I don't know where he is."  
  
"We were just talking baseball," Nick explained. "Jack here thinks Manny Ramirez is better than A-Rod. What do you think?"  
  
"Who and who?" Annie asked.  
  
"She doesn't know anything about sports," Jack explained.  
  
Morgan raised her eyebrows. "Whatever," she said. "What do you think?" she asked Clu. "Manny or A-Rod?"  
  
"Definitely A-Rod," Clu said, nodding.  
  
"Ha!" Nick exclaimed triumphantly.  
  
"Wait a second, it's two against two. You haven't won anything," Jack said.  
  
"There's only one way to find out," Nick said slowly. He reached into his backpack and pulled out an ugly, tattered yellow sweater. Annie stared in shock as she watched the sleeve of the jersey wrap itself around Jack's arm. Suddenly both he and Nick disappeared.  
  
"Oh my God - what just happened?" Annie asked Morgan.  
  
Morgan shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe they're at a Red Sox - Rangers game," she smirked.  
  
"Okay, this is getting way too weird," Clu said. "Let's go find my brother."  
  
"Yeah, let's go," Annie agreed quickly. They walked along the street, eyeing the yard of every house. "Hey, there he is!" Annie exclaimed. Sure enough, there Carey was, talking to someone Annie and Clu couldn't yet see.  
  
"Carey!" Clu called.  
  
Carey turned around, a pen and paper in his hand. "Hi, guys! Look who I found!" He stepped aside as Clu and Annie gasped at who was revealed.  
  
"Oh my God, it's Silverstone! I mean Jett Jackson! Mr. Jackson, can I have your autograph?" Annie babbled incoherently.  
  
"I can give only one at a time," Jett replied, flashing a quick grin. "But sure. Just a second."  
  
"Wow, I didn't know that famous people lived in Goozburg," Clu commented.  
  
"Well, it's just me," Jett replied. "I like the small-town life, you know." He scribbled his name on the piece of paper Carey had given him, and handed it back. He then did the same for Annie. "I've got to be getting back to work now," Jett said, motioning to the directors and cameras behind him. "We're in the middle of shooting. Nice meeting you!"  
  
"Thanks, Jett!" Annie and Carey called together.  
  
"Look, guys, now we have to find Jack," Clu said in a very serious tone.  
  
"Why, what happened to him?" Carey asked, concerned.  
  
"Dude, he just disappeared!" Clu exclaimed. "He was just standing there, and then this guy takes out a yellow sweater, and all of a sudden, they just vanished!"  
  
Carey raised an eyebrow. "Why am I not believing this?"  
  
"It's true," Annie confirmed. "But maybe they came back now. We have to split up. Carey, you go over there. Clu, go look by where the EMTs were. I'm going to head over that way," she said, pointing ahead. "We'll meet back at the tour bus at..." Annie glanced at her watch. "A quarter to five. That gives us forty-five minutes. Okay?"  
  
"Okay," Clu and Carey agreed, and they headed their separate ways.  
  
  
Chapter Four  
  
_Now where could Jack be?_ Annie wondered. _Probably in another dimension, at this point..._ She sat down at a bench in a park. A group of skaters were at the far end. _Wow, they're really good,_ Annie marveled, walking over to get a better view. She caught a glimpse of one of the boy's faces and gasped. "Jack!" She ran over to him. "Jack, since when do you skate?"  
  
Jack looked at Annie strangely. He turned around, but no one else was nearby. "Are you talking to me?"  
  
"Jack, I've been looking all over for you. Why didn't you ever tell me what a good skater you are?" She looked at his shirt. _Pup and suds?_  
  
"Do I know you? And who's Jack?"  
  
Annie's jaw dropped. "If you're not Jack, who are you?"  
  
Just then, another boy skated over. "What's going on here, Peter?"  
  
Annie stared at him, agape. "_Clu?_ But I thought you were... I thought..."  
  
The two boys stared at her, confused. "Are you okay?" Clu asked. "Look, I don't know who Clu is, but this is Peter, and I'm Brink."  
  
"Brink? Peter?" Annie repeated. "I'm really not having a good day..."  
  
"Yeah, you seem a little out of place," Peter said. "Who's Jack?"  
  
"My friend - I swear, he looks _just like you_..." Annie replied.  
  
"And let me guess, this _Clu_ looks just like me, right?" Brink said.  
  
"Well, actually - yeah," Annie said.  
  
"Maybe you've been in the sun too long," Peter suggested. "Or maybe you were eating a lot of candy. Sugar can mess you up."  
  
A girl with long dark curly hair skated over to them. "Hey guys, are we going to skate or what?" she asked impatiently.  
  
"We'll be there in a second, Gabriella," Peter said. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked Annie.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Annie assured him. "Um, if you see someone who looks just like you, tell him Annie was looking for him, okay?"  
  
"Sure thing," Peter replied.  
  
"Okay, thanks." Annie smiled, walking away.  
  
"What a nutcase," Brink commented to Peter once Annie was out of earshot.  
  
"Tell me about it."  
  
  
Chapter Five  
  
Annie wandered along the streets, still trying to process what had just happened. _Brink and Peter,_ she thought. _Weird._ She looked ahead and saw a huge crowd around a store window. _What's going on?_ Annie wondered. She walked over, deciding to find out. She pushed to the front of a crowd but all she saw was a curly-haired boy bouncing on a bed. _HOURS SLEPT: 4,_ a sign read.  
  
"It's just a kid in a bed," Annie said aloud, disappointed. "_That's_ what all the fuss is about?"  
  
"Thank you, someone is normal!" a brunette girl said to her.  
  
"Well, that's something I haven't heard yet today," Annie replied.  
  
The girl laughed, even if not quite understanding what Annie meant. "I'm Ren Stevens," she introduced herself. "_His_ sister." She nodded her head in direction of the boy.  
  
"Annie Thelen," Annie replied. "What's with the people in this town, anyway? They must be easily amused to cause such a commotion over a boy in a bed."  
  
"Well, what can I say, the people of Goozburg just tend to be different," Ren said. She and Annie found their way out of the crowd and began to walk along the street.  
  
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know anything about this old yellow sweater owned by two kids named Nick and Morgan, would you?" Annie asked.  
  
"You mean, the jersey?"  
  
"I think so..." Annie said.  
  
"Only rumors. According to their friend, this little guy named Elliot, I think, they supposedly put on the jersey and are whisked into the body of a star athlete. I can't say I believe it, though. Why?"  
  
"Well, I think the jersey has my friend Jack," Annie explained. "The jersey wrapped itself around his arm and I swear he just disappeared."  
  
Ren didn't look convinced. "If you say so," she said. "Well, it's been nice talking to you, but I've got to go. I hope you find your friend. Bye!" Ren called.  
  
"Bye," Annie shouted. She looked at her watch. _4:43._ She walked onto the tour bus. "Carey? Clu?" she yelled.  
  
"They're not here."  
  
"Jack!" Annie exclaimed, running into the community room. Jack was sitting on the couch. He looked up from the magazine in his hands.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Jack, we were looking all over town for you," Annie told him. Just then Carey and Clu stepped into the room.  
  
"Jack!" they both shouted.  
  
"It's already been established," Jack replied. "I was here the whole time! I decided to take a little nap."  
  
"What?" Carey asked in disbelief.  
  
Jack shrugged. "It's true. Sorry, I guess. But anyway, I had the craziest dream... I was in the body of Manny Ramirez! Isn't that weird?"  
  
"Oh, weird isn't the word," Annie replied. Just then, Molly, Ned, and Irene came onto the bus.  
  
"Everyone ready to go?" Ned called out. Within moments the gang was on its way out of Goozburg.  
  
Annie ran to her room and opened her laptop. "Please, Fi, be on..." she murmured. She clicked the InstaGab icon and, as luck should have it, Fi just happened to be online.  
  
_Do you know anything about really unusual towns?_ Annie typed.  
  
_Usually a clue to the town is hidden in its name,_ Fi wrote back.  
  
"In its name?" Annie repeated. She recalled what had happened in another strange town, Hiveburg. "They were bees, and the town was their hive!" Annie remembered. "So, then Goozburg... but what's a Gooz?" Hmm, what is a Gooz? [Plays _Twilight Zone_ theme...]  
  
  


THE END... OR IS IT?


	2. Return to Goozburg

TITLE: Return to Goozburg  
AUTHOR: JackPhillipsGirl  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own So Weird, In A Heartbeat, The Jersey, Even Stevens, Famous Jett Jackson, Lizzie McGuire, Brink!, or the Zoogs. This story is the result of my extreme boredom and from watching too much Disney, so don't take it seriously. Enjoy!  
  
  
Chapter One  
  
Annie lay back on her bed, smiling contentedly with herself. "Once again, Annie Thelen, you are a genius," she praised herself aloud.  
  
"What was that? You call that solving the mystery of Goozburg? Even I could have done better," a deep voice interrupted.  
  
Annie sat up straight, scared stiff. "Who - who said that?" she asked, trembling.  
  
"Who do you think it is? It's me, your panther." Just then Annie's panther appeared before her.  
  
Annie stared at the panther, aghast. "You've never talked to me before," she whispered.  
  
"Yeah, and I should have thought of it sooner," the panther replied, annoyed. "Jeez, why did they give me _you_?"  
  
"Huh?" Annie said, confused.  
  
The panther sighed. "Never mind. Look, I've come here to deliver you a message. Your family isn't happy about the way you've been handling things. You can't just have Fi do all the work for you."  
  
"What do you mean? And who's my family, you mean like my mom and my dad?" Annie asked.  
  
The panther shook his head, his aggravation growing with each passing second. "No," he said slowly, "not your parents. I'm talking about your _real_ family. The one on your home planet."  
  
"So I really am an alien!" Annie exclaimed.  
  
"Well, what other explanation could there be for -" the panther began, but stopped himself. "The point is, we have to do this whole little Goozburg situation over. And you have to _really_ find out what's going on this time, no cheating and asking Fi, like you always do."  
  
"But I don't under -" Annie started to say, but before she could complete her sentence, there was a flash of colors and blinking lights.  
  
  
Chapter Two  
  
When Annie could see again, she discovered herself walking alongside Ren Stevens.  
  
"Well, I hope you find your friend," Ren said with a smile. "Bye!" She turned around and walked away.  
  
"Uh, bye?" Annie mumbled. She was standing in front of the tour bus. Her watch read 4:43. _Well, I might as well go in,_ Annie thought. As she entered the community room, she saw Jack sitting on the couch. _Okay, so the exact same thing is happening all over again. This was pointless!_  
  
Jack leaped off the couch, throwing his magazine aside. "You have to help me," he said quickly.  
  
"Jack, I was just looking all over for... wait, what?"  
  
"I'm not Jack!" Jack exclaimed. "Something happened, the jersey, it went haywire..."  
  
"Okay, wait, let me guess," Annie said with a slight smile. "You're Peter?"  
  
"No, it's me, Nick!" Jack - or Nick - shouted.  
  
"Nick? You mean the guy with the ugly yellow sweater?" Annie asked.  
  
"The jersey," Nick corrected her. "It's supposed to take me into the body of a star athlete, but it malfunctioned somehow... and now I'm in the body of Jack! Come on, jersey, let me out!" He tugged at his shirt, to no avail.  
  
"Okay, just hang on, I'll get you out of there," Annie promised. "I know someone who will be able to help." She began to walk over to her laptop but stopped short. "Oh, wait. I forgot, I can't do that anymore." Annie shrugged. "I guess you're stuck." She sat on the couch and picked up the magazine Nick had been reading.  
  
"NO! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME! YOU HAVE TO GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Nick screamed, stamping his feet like a small child throwing a tantrum.  
  
"All right, all right, just stop yelling!" Annie said. "Um, well, let's see. How do you usually get out of the jersey?"  
  
"I don't know, it just happens," Nick responded, in a calmer tone.  
  
Annie sighed. "You're a big help," she said sarcastically. "Look, just stay here - and if Clu and Carey come back, try to act like Jack, okay? I'll see what I can do."  
  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Annie stepped off the bus and looked around at her surroundings. In reality, she didn't have the faintest idea of where to begin. "Come on, Annie, you can do this," she said to herself. Just then she noticed two girls and a boy approaching her. "Oh no, not them again..."  
  
"Hi, I'm Lizzie, and my show stars my best friends Gordo and Miranda." She paused, and frowned. "Nothing really happens to us, though."  
  
"Yeah," Gordo agreed, "our lives are boring."  
  
"Even her family's Dullsville," Miranda added, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Okay, look, I _don't care,_" Annie interrupted. Lizzie glared at her. "Can you guys just tell me what you know about the jersey?"  
  
Lizzie folded her arms across her chest. "After you've been so totally rude to us? Like, I don't think so."  
  
"Yeah, like, whatever," Miranda said, quickly imitating the way Lizzie had folded her arms. Gordo did the same.  
  
Annie groaned. "Never mind, I can do this myself." She turned around and headed down the street. "I just have to find what I'm looking for first." She came to a halt as she laid her eyes upon the most handsome man in the world.  
  
"Jett Jackson," Annie breathed. Sure enough, there he was, alone in the front yard of his house. He was taking out the trash. Suddenly he looked up, noticing the blond girl staring at him.  
  
"Um, can I help you?" he asked. "Hey, aren't you that girl I signed an autograph for earlier today?"  
  
Annie's breath caught in her throat. _He remembers me!_ Timidly, she approached him. Somehow, without Clu and Carey, and the dozens of people on the set, she felt a million times more nervous. "H-H-Hi, yes, I'm that girl. My name's Annie."  
  
"Hi Annie." Jett smiled warmly. Annie thought she might pass out any second. Jett stared at her expectedly. "Well?" he asked.  
  
"Um, um," Annie stammered. "I, uh... I didn't know you have such a normal life. I mean, I just have this whole picture of you in my mind... taking out bad guys and all."  
  
Jett winked. "I've got it covered." He grinned. "Well, I think it's time for lunch, so I better go inside."  
  
"Yeah," Annie said, "I bet you've got great toast."  
  
"What?" Jett gave her a strange look, and then shook his head. "See you around."  
  
"See you," Annie repeated, her eyes following his retreating figure until he was no longer in view. She sighed, and then snapped out of her trance. _I need to find Jack,_ she reminded herself, and began to walk down the street again. Suddenly her eyes widened at who she saw walking along the sidewalk, hand in hand.  
  
"Clu!" Annie called, running over to him and... Val. Annie felt her stomach churn.  
  
"Oh, hi, Annie," Clu said lazily. "You know Val." He gazed at her lovingly.  
  
"Yeah, I do," Annie replied dully. "Um, Clu, shouldn't you be looking for Jack?" Annie asked, desperately trying to get him away from Val.  
  
"No, it's okay, Clu and I are going to look for him together," Val said in her sickeningly sweet tone of voice. "Right, honey?" she prompted.  
  
"Right," Clu agreed quickly.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll let you know if we find him," Val promised, squeezing Clu's hand more tightly. _This is sure to make Tyler jealous,_ she thought with an evil glint in her eye.  
  
"Oh, goody," Annie said sarcastically. Unable to stand being around them any longer, Annie headed off again on her never-ending journey down the road. By this time it was obvious to anyone that at the rate she was going, Annie was never going to find Jack. That is, it was obvious to everyone besides Annie.  
  
  
Chapter Four  
  
Annie suddenly heard cheering in the distance and ran in the direction of where it was coming from. "It's those skaters again!" she exclaimed. She sat down in the stands and decided to watch the in-line skating competition.  
  
"And now, Andy 'Brink' Brinker," the announcer's voice boomed over the speakers.  
  
_I still can't get over how much he looks like Clu,_ Annie marveled. At the end of the competition, Annie ran over to congratulate team Pup 'n Suds, who had won, of course.  
  
"You guys were great!" she exclaimed.  
  
_Oh no, it's that psycho from earlier,_ Peter thought. "Thanks," he said, looking away in hopes that maybe she would leave.  
  
Annie peered at Peter's face more closely. "It's amazing how much you look like my friend Jack," she commented. Peter just stared at her. "So, umm..." Annie continued, beginning to feel uncomfortable. "What do you guys know about the jersey?" she blurted.  
  
"Nothing," Peter snapped.  
  
"Yeah, uh, maybe you should try the mayor," Jordy joked. "He knows about everything that goes on in this town."  
  
"Oh really? Where's the mayor's house?"  
  
The four skaters looked at each other skeptically. _She's actually buying this?_ Brink thought.  
  
"I was just k -" Jordy began, but Gabriella stamped hard on his foot. "Ow!"  
  
"One block left, one block right, two blocks left. You can't miss it," she said.  
  
Annie smiled. "Thanks!" she said happily, and skipped off down the road. She didn't really know if the mayor of this town would be able to help, but then again, the mayor of Hiveburg was able to help when Annie was there.  
  
Suddenly the mayor's house came into view. Annie gasped. "It's huge!" Cautiously, she approached it. A man with dark hair saw Annie coming and ran to the entrance.  
  
"May I help you?" he asked.  
  
"I'd like to see the mayor," Annie said.  
  
"I'm sorry, the mayor isn't -" he stopped short as he looked at Annie more closely. "You... you..."  
  
"What?" Annie prompted, wondering if she had something on her face.  
  
"Nothing," the man said quickly. "Yes, I'll take you to see the mayors - I mean, mayor, right away."  
  
"Okay," Annie replied, shrugging off his peculiar attitude. She followed him into the house and up a winding staircase, which seemed to have no end. Panting, Annie asked, "Are we almost there?"  
  
"Mortals can't make it all the way," the man said. "Only you..." his voice trailed off. And then, just like that, he was gone.  
  
  
Chapter Five  
  
Annie blinked. "Where'd he go?" she asked herself aloud. "Oh well. That was weird." She continued on her way up the stairs until finally she saw a door. The door almost seemed to be outlined in a glowing bright light. Annie brought her hand to the doorknob and turned it slowly. The door swung open to reveal the same flashing colors and blinking lights that Annie saw every time she arrived in Goozburg. This room had no boundaries, not even a ceiling or floor, and no furniture. All it contained were the splotches of color everywhere and seven floating cartoon-like creatures.  
  
"It's like another dimension," Annie breathed. She was still standing in the doorway.  
  
"You can come in," a creature with pigtails and glasses said.  
  
"But won't I fall?" Annie asked.  
  
"No," the creature replied. "It's okay." Annie carefully stepped into the room, and to her amazement, was able to just float around like the others.  
  
"Where am I?" she asked. "And who are you?"  
  
"You're in the Zeether," another creature replied. "And we are the Zoogs. My name's Joe," he said. "And this is Zoogina, Dotcom, MZ, Twitch, the Gatherer, and Browser," he introduced the others.  
  
"Zoogs?" Annie repeated. "Of course! That's why this town is called Goozburg. Gooz is Zoog backwards!" she exclaimed triumphantly. About a million questions were running through Annie's mind, but she decided to ask the one that would hopefully answer everything. "Why am I here?"  
  
"You are one of us, Annie," Dotcom piped up. "You are a Zoog. That's why only you could make it all the way to us. Right now you are in human form. As a Zoog you were beautiful..." she trailed off.  
  
"We have been looking for you, Annie. We knew you would make it here one day," the Gatherer said.  
  
"So this is my home planet?" Annie asked.  
  
"Well - no," MZ said. "This is really only our vacation home on Earth. There are millions more of us, back home."  
  
"You're not taking me back now, are you?" Annie asked, alarmed. "I kind of like it here."  
  
"No, not yet," Twitch said. "You will know when it is time, Annie Thelen."  
  
"Oh..." Annie said slowly. "Okay. Bye!" She began to run off towards the door.  
  
"Wait!" Zoogina called. "Aren't you forgetting something?"  
  
Annie stopped in her tracks and brought her finger to her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm... I don't think so..."  
  
"Don't you have to bring back Jack?" Dotcom asked.  
  
"Oh yeah!" Annie exclaimed. "Do you guys know where he is?"  
  
"We took him as bait to bring you to us," Joe explained. "But you're going to have to answer a few questions to get him back."  
  
  
Chapter Six  
  
"Okay," Annie responded. "What do I have to do?"  
  
"Well, every week, we conduct a few polls of the people here in Goozburg. Then we store the data in a safe spot, until we can finally fully understand humans," Dotcom said.  
  
"We're going to ask you three questions, and if you can guess what the most popular answer was, we'll bring Jack back," Zoogina added.  
  
"Sounds easy enough," Annie said.  
  
"All right, here's my first question," Dotcom began. "What do Zoogburgians say that their favorite key on the keyboard is?"  
  
Annie thought for a moment. "The enter key?" she guessed.  
  
"Yes!" Dotcom exclaimed. "Okay, here's the second one: what would make the worst new reality show?"  
  
"Definitely one about spoiled brats," Annie said, thinking back to Lizzie.  
  
"Wow, I can't believe she got that one," Joe whispered to the Gatherer.  
  
"That's right!" Dotcom said. "And the final question is, what word is so last millennium?"  
  
"It has to be 'da bomb'," Annie replied. The Zoogs didn't say anything, and Annie was scared that her answer was wrong. Then suddenly, there were the all-too-familiar flashing colors and blinking lights, and when Annie could see again, she was back on the tour bus. Jack was sitting on the couch, a magazine in his hands.  
  
"Well?" he said.  
  
"Jack?" Annie asked, hoping it was really him this time.  
  
"Yeah..." Jack said slowly. "Annie, what do you want?"  
  
"Oh, sorry," Annie said quickly. "I was just surprised to see you, that's all. I was looking all over town for you!"  
  
"Okay then," Jack replied, and looked down at his magazine again.  
  
Suddenly Clu and Carey tumbled into the room. "Jack!" they both exclaimed.  
  
"It's already been established," Jack replied. "I was here the whole time! I decided to take a little nap."  
  
"What?" Carey asked in disbelief.  
  
Jack shrugged. "It's true. Sorry, I guess. But anyway, I had the _craziest_ dream... I was in the body of Manny Ramirez! Isn't that weird?"  
  
Just then, Molly, Ned, and Irene came onto the bus.  
  
"Everyone ready to go?" Ned called out. Within moments the gang was on its way out of Goozburg. Annie went into her room and looked out her window to catch one last glimpse of the town.  
  
The faces of the seven Zoogs appeared in her window. "Goodbye, Annie!" they called.  
  
"Bye!" Annie replied, and lay back on her bed, finally happy with herself.  
  
  


THE END


End file.
